The Shinobi We Are
by The Story Summoner
Summary: If SBURB never happened and the pre-scratch kids were born into the lives of ninjas, would they be any different to how they are in the world where they did play the game? Meeting other ninjas and finding their own ninja path is just scratching the surface of their potential. Alternate continuity for Naruto to some degree.
1. Genesis

The Shinobi We Are  
Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or Homestuck. Not at all.  
Notes: Owing to the nature of this Fanfiction I have renamed the Homestuck characters to names that would fit in the Naruto universe. If clarifications are required, leave them in a review.

A blonde haired student sat atop an old worn post beside the one of the main gates of Konoha, a light wind catching stray strands and tossing them around as if they were nothing. Her violet hued eyes narrowed as she looked out into the forest, or more specifically, at the dirt path winding through it which held two unfamiliar figures approaching the village. She hadn't even graduated from the Ninja Academy, so she had little doubt that if she challenged the two walking with such confidence towards the gate she would be met with a one-sided beatdown with her on the receiving end. She let out a sigh as she continued to observe them. Soon enough she could hear the soft crunch of fallen leaves under their shoes, one of the most familiar sounds known to the Konoha ninja-in-training, although if all went well by the end of tomorrow that title would be a thing of the past. In the dappled sunlight split by the thick green canopy of trees that surrounded Konohagakure she saw the shine of metal on the taller figure's left arm. A hitai-ate, a ninja headband that displayed the wearer's allegiance. Squinting to get a better look she let out a breath of relief. The leaf symbol of Konoha was catching the occasional ray of afternoon sun as the ninja walked past her without a second glance. The shorter of the two however looked straight up at her, or at least that's where she thought he was looking because it was difficult to tell with the dark sunglasses he wore, completely obscuring his eyes. What confused the young kunoichi-to-be was the startling colour of his hair, or lack thereof. It was white, not the white of old age, but a white that was more reminiscent of a new sheet of paper or a bleached cloth. She froze, quickly noting the short sword he held sheathed at his side. His expression was unreadable, his not-quite scowl being an almost-smile at the same time. At a word from the shinobi he turned away and followed dutifully.

The encounter confused her to no end, why were they here? She dismissed that thought immediately, the elder was obviously a shinobi of Konoha, and he had every right to be in his own village. Why were they arriving though? She had seen neither before, and she willingly admitted that she didn't know everyone in the village but surely she would know the kid with the sword, he looked to be about the same age as she was and she had never seen him before in her life. Dropping to the ground she headed home, contemplating what it could have possibly meant. The lazy afternoon streets were quiet, only the occasional pedestrian or ninja walking in the orange glow of the setting sun.  
"Akaru!"  
Turning to her right she saw one of her closest friends, an Inuzuka girl by the name of Hisui running up the side street to greet her, the trademark loyal canine of the clan trotting behind her lazily. Slowing to a jog and eventually to a stop she looked towards the sky, clouds splashed with pastel pinks and purples from the sunset drifting lazily across the sky.  
"Hello Hisui," Akaru greeted, a slight smile playing on her lips. Hisui's antics always lightened any mood, however dark.  
"Are you looking forward to tomorrow?" Hisui chirped, her eyes behind her large round glasses shining with excitement while she grinned that adorable smile of hers that openly displayed her cheerful demeanour. Beside her Saisho gave a deep bark of agreement, the dog standing half as tall as Hisui herself.  
"Decidedly. Being a shinobi is exactly why we went to the Academy in the first place, so to finally achieve that goal is something to celebrate," Akaru replied, even her tone betraying a hint of the excitement that Hisui didn't bother to bottle up. Being known at the Academy mostly for her cynical nature and maturity beyond her years it was hardly a surprise that she sounded a lot less excited than she actually felt.  
"Me too! I mean, it'll be the beginning of the rest of our lives!"  
Looking to the sky again Hisui frowned a little, the sun dipping below the horizon. "I have to go; my grandma will be so worried if I'm out after dark! She'll be wondering where I've been and if I've run into any nasty people and… I should get going. I'll see you tomorrow at the graduation exams!" Hisui called, turning around and sprinting home. Watching her go Akaru decided that it was time she got home too, not that her mother really cared, but it would still be a good idea with the exams tomorrow. Walking slowly along the streets drenched in the last orange rays of sunlight she followed the main street until she reached her destination.

…/… …/…

The Academy was bustling as the graduates pushed through the doorway and out into the yard. Many an overjoyed parent congratulated their children in finally becoming ninja, loyal shinobi of the Village Hidden in the Leaves. "You did well, congratulations Akaru," said a tall, slender woman, a broad smile lighting up her face. Despite not really being the nurturing type, Akaru's mother was always tried to be supportive when she saw fit. Patting her daughter on the shoulder she couldn't help but smile openly. She was officially a shinobi! She had waited years for this, studying as any devoted student would, training and doing whatever she could to make sure that she passed. She cast a glance around at all of the students that were chattering light-heartedly about their recent graduation before her eyes settled on one dejected-looking blond, visible even under the shade of the tree he was under by the bright orange he donned. Unlike everyone else he wasn't proudly sporting a recently earned hitai-ate, even she had one replacing the white headband she wore only yesterday. It must've been him that failed, the only one. Not thinking much of it she looked for Hisui, finding her embracing her grandmother while Saisho licked her face affectionately. Deciding against invading Hisui's family moment she opted to instead look up to her mother. "I can hardly believe that I'm finally a ninja," she said, a trace of pride in her voice.  
"I always knew that you would do it, I never doubted it for a second." Akaru's mother wasn't a ninja, instead she collected a myriad of odd statues which littered the interior of Akaru's home, unusually organised despite the apparent chaos. Eventually she had grown to tolerate and even appreciate their presence. A few stray thoughts crossed her mind, but through her sheer sense of accomplishment they were insignificant and barely dismissed.

Hisui was overjoyed. As she hugged her grandmother warmly her face was practically glowing. The elderly lady had served as her guardian along with Saisho for most of her life, and she wouldn't have it any other way. Her shiny new hitai-ate was tied across her forehead as her heard swelled with happiness. Through her glasses she looked at all the other promising graduates her viridian eyes fell on a forlorn kid sitting on a swing under a large tree. She felt a pang of pity for him, apparently this was his third try and he failed again. Leaving her grandmother she approached him, hearing several jibes at his expense on her way.  
"Hey there!" she called, waving enthusiastically, offering a friendly smile.  
The blonde raised his head, wondering if the greeting was directed at him, however slim the chances. Much to his surprise he saw a girl walking towards him that didn't look as if she wanted to bash him up for no reason.  
"Hi…" he muttered, failing for a third time being a heavy emotional blow, especially with all the nasty comments that he couldn't help but overhear.  
"Are you alright?" she asked her tone jovial and light as it almost always was. The seemed genuinely concerned, so he saw no reason not to answer.  
"Not really. I failed again and…" he heaved a sigh, not really needing to continue.  
Hisui bit her lip a little, thinking about what she could say to console the lonely kid before remembering that she hadn't even told him her name. "By the way, my name is Hisui Inuzuka," she said, holding out her hand for the blonde boy to shake.  
Taking her hand he seemed to brighten up a little, "I'm Naruto Uzumaki."  
Hisui ignored the other graduates' taunts and continued to talk to Naruto, eventually engaging in a conversation that seemed to reveal his loud and unpredictable attitude.  
"I had no idea that you've lived alone all this time! I mean, my parents are dead too, but at least I've got my grandma and Saisho," Hisui exclaimed, Naruto having just told her about his lonely and painful past.  
"Who's Saisho?" asked a confused Naruto, scratching his head.  
"He's my dog!" Hisui answered, before considering and continuing, "Well, he's more of a guardian really. He's pretty old, he was my dad's companion and it was him that thought to give me Saisho!"  
"Wait, you're an orphan too?"  
"I guess you could say that! Although at least I still have family, it must really suck living all alone like that."  
Naruto was about to reply, but he heard an elderly lady calling Hisui's name. She turned and gasped with surprise, everyone else had already gone home and it was just them left, conversing underneath the tree.  
"Sorry Naruto, looks like I have to go now… I'll see you again?"  
A smile crossed Naruto's whisker-marked face, "Yeah, I'd like that."

…/… …/…

This was it, the final part of becoming a full-fledged shinobi. Iruka stood in front of the now graduated class with a smile. He had taught these students what he could and he felt honoured to start them on their journey by assigning them to their teams. He looked over the excited gathering, noting one student that he had never seen before yesterday. Shrugging he called the rowdy ex-students to attention, "Quiet down guys, I will now assign you to your three man teams lead by an experienced jonin."  
As expected the whole room went so silent you could hear a pin drop. Iruka simply began reading out the team selections, not wanting to keep the eager children in suspense.  
"Team Eleven will consist of Hisui Inuzuka, Akaru Hari and…" Iruka stared at the paper. Surely he couldn't be reading this right? Blinking a little and making sure the paper wasn't under some kind of genjutsu he read out the name of the last member of Team Eleven, "… Karasu Uchiha."  
Somewhere in the middle of the room a raven haired boy's eyes widened in what could only be described as utter shock.  
"Are you sure you read that right?" he called, standing up in his place.  
"I'm as surprised as you are Sasuke," Iruka confirmed, "But yes. You can come have a look if you want proof."  
Sasuke narrowed his eyes as he sat down, scanning the room for this so-called 'Karasu Uchiha'. Eventually his eyes settled on someone he had never seen before, and he stood out quite a lot with his snowy hair. This was him, Sasuke was absolutely sure of it, but how? How in the world was he even _alive_? The dark-eyed boy laced his fingers together and rested him chin on them as he thought about the situation. Maybe it was mistaken identity? Unlikely, but possible. A smirking half-smile tugged at one side his mouth. He would definitely have to talk to Karasu about a lot of things.  
"Now all you have to do is wait for your jonin leader and they will direct you from there. Good luck all of you," Iruka said, leaning against a wall as he too waited for the jonin to take their new genin.

Akaru sat waiting, Hisui on her left smiling about something she had no idea about. She considered asking, but Hisui was almost always happy, so it would be pointless to ask really. Instead she settled for waiting for the 'experienced jonin' that would be their sensei from here on in. Deciding to see if there was anything going on outside she slid her purple gaze to the open door and she nearly fell off her chair when she saw someone standing there. Not just any someone, but the ninja she saw entering the village only yesterday.  
"Team Eleven, come with me," he announced in a voice that held both authority and absolute confidence. Adjusting his standard issue flak jacket he smirked a little as Hisui and Akaru followed him out, tailed by someone that if Akaru looked behind her she would immediately recognise.


	2. My Name Is

The two genin companions followed their new leader, eventually finding themselves in some kind of courtyard, huge trees draping their foliage over the area. Motioning for them to sit the strange ninja turned around and looked at them. Perching on a log Akaru decided that it was high time that she noted who her other teammate was and for the second time that day she nearly fell over backwards in surprise. That white hair was unmistakable, although his sword was now sheathed across his back and the emblem on the front of the white shirt he donned was unmistakable that of the Uchiha. The cool shade provided by the trees was pleasant, but Akaru was too distracted by the mysterious Uchiha to notice much about their location.  
"Listen up. I know absolutely nothing about most of you, so first thing's first; who the heck are you?" the jonin announced, a gloved hand brushing sandy hair out of his eyes.  
"But we don't know about you either!" Hisui commented, as eager to know just who their leader was as Akaru.  
The jonin shrugged, the ghost of a smirk showing itself on his face. "Alright then, I'll go first. I'm Kamome Hiniku, and my swords are some of the most serious weapons you'll ever see. Apart from that I've been away since you kids were little and that's about all you need to know about me. Now who's next?"  
After Kamome's short introduction Hisui leapt at the chance, "My name is Hisui Inuzuka, and I often forget stuff, that's why I have these!" She wiggled her fingers a little, drawing attention to the numerous brightly coloured bands adorning them, "I really like gardening and for some reason I fall asleep a lot."  
With a slight nod of acknowledgement from Kamome Akaru decided that it was her turn to introduce herself. "I'm Akaru Hari. One could say that my taste in literature is… questionable. I am utterly devoted to my studies and I find genjutsu fascinating." Closing her eyes she finished speaking before hearing a voice to her left. Opening her eyes she listened intently to the last member of their team.  
"'Sup. I'm Karasu Uchiha. I only arrived here yesterday, but I've been ready for this for a while. My past is something not worth mentioning, pretty boring and repetitive; you probably don't want to know anyway. I love the sick fires from my fire-style jutsus, but more than that my blade is the most badass thing I own."  
Akaru couldn't help but quirk an eyebrow. She only knew of one Uchiha, and he was nothing at all like Karasu. What did he mean by 'I've been ready for this for a while'? They enigmatic albino gave nothing away, his eyes hidden behind his dark sunglasses and his face utterly unreadable as he finished his speech. The introductions had been simple, nothing more than an addressing of names and a skim over an interest or personality quirk, and to an extent that irked Akaru. She had hoped that perhaps Karasu would reveal more about himself, but in hindsight that was futile. Her Inuzuka friend had been the most open, and even she didn't give away much. It appeared that the only way to find out more about these shinobi that had appeared out of absolutely nowhere. Toying with the idea like a cat toys with its cornered prey she turned it over and examined it; she really didn't want to wait, but circumstances were not being fair to her curiosity. Without warning Kamome flashed away, faster than the eye could follow. Suddenly on edge the genin were on their feet in a second, alert and ready. Out of the three of them only Karasu knew what awaited them, a no-holds-barred beatdown, their asses were going to be served up on a silver platter. He should know, the jonin was his adoptive father, and almost every day Kamome jumped him out of nowhere and sparred. His speed was nothing short of incredible and he had no doubt that he was going to absolutely pound his new teammates.  
"Consider this your first test," came the voice of Kamome, cleverly hiding his location by using a sound distribution jutsu, "Let's see what you midgets can do!"

Hisui's eyes darted back and forth. She had barely met her sensei and already he was testing them! She just hoped that he would hold back or something, a jonin was likely to render the genin incapacitated if he went all out. A low bark from Saisho beside her drew her attention to her closest companion and family member. She couldn't smell him, even with the heightened sense that was a trademark trait of the Inuzuka clan to which she belonged. Maybe Kamome wanted to see what they could do, test their limits. If that's what he wanted, Hisui was going to give it to him. Crouching low next to Saisho she whispered something inaudible to him before he let out a playful growl. With a leap he bounded over the moss-covered stones littering the ground and lifted his nose to the air, breathing in the scent of his surroundings. His partner watched almost anxiously, and he knew her thoughts as well as he knew his own. She was worried about what the jonin had in store for them, but she was unwilling to say anything, not wanting to appear as a weak link. A rustle to her left caught her attention, also drawing Saisho's attention away from finding Kamome. Approaching with all the caution taught to the students at the academy she stalked towards the offending shrubbery, slowly, silently. Without warning she leapt forward with a loud battle cry, but her battle cry turned into a shout of confusion as the bush was completely devoid of her target, and she had just given away her position. Dropping into a defensive crouch she slowly inched backwards, glancing around to find her teammates, but to no avail. Akaru would undoubtedly be hidden and lying in wait like a good shinobi and prepared for attack, but what Karasu would attempt was a total mystery.  
"GET DOWN!"  
Hisui felt herself knocked back, and she knew where the Uchiha was. She didn't have time to think about it though as an explosion blasted where she had been standing mere seconds ago, leaving a pillar of smoke in its wake. She heard Karasu curse under his breath as he drew his sword out of its sheath on his back. The courtyard was deceptively large, and within a copse of trees away from the rest of the village. So many hiding places, and Kamome could be in any one of them.  
"Stay quiet," Karasu hissed, his voice but a breath in Hisui's ear, "He'll reveal himself, but when he does everything will go to town. He won't even bother to approach stealthily, he'll just swagger up to us and that'll be that."  
Hisui nodded slowly, for some reason she felt like Karasu knew what he was talking about. Sure enough she saw the jonin walking towards them with absolutely no subtlety, he even appeared to offer up a smirk when Karasu whispered to Hisui again.  
"Stay back until I get in and distract him. Then kick his ass for me."  
Without waiting for a response Karasu launched himself out of his hiding place, brandishing his sword with a practised ease. Kamome swatted the blade aside with a kunai so fast that it was almost as if the blade had diverted itself from its own path. Behind his dark glasses Karasu narrowed his eyes. He wasn't going to use this, but he might as well try to gain an upper hand.  
"Blazing Sword jutsu!" he called, whipping through hand signs with his blade still in hand. With a flare of chakra the blade burst into flames, the orange and gold licking up and down the length of steel. A slight smile played on his features. Oh how he loved the mesmerising way that the fire was so warm and yet so deadly. Sweeping around in a wide arc he let the flaming sword do the work for him, Kamome stepping back almost lazily to avoid being singed. With a flurry of reckless slashes that he learned were one of the only ways to drive Kamome back he pressed forward, waiting for one of his teammates to back him up. They had to, that was the point of him engaging his adoptive father in combat. All he had to do was distract Kamome until they attacked with him. A flash of white flickering at the edge of his vision was enough to tell him that it was safe to terminate the jutsu and back away. Big mistake. With a single deft movement Kamome had him pinned to the ground, his arm twisted painfully behind his back and his sword lying useless just out of reach.  
"Got you," Kamome said, a playful tone creeping into his voice.

From her vantage point Akaru quickly worked out it would be useless to attack Kamome head on, or from any direction really. She had hoped to save this as a trump card, but Kamome had already defeated the Uchiha and appeared distracted. She cautiously moved through the familiar motions of a genjutsu, casting the illusion to be as simple as she could. After all, the simple illusions were the illusions that went undetected. Feeling safe she dropped from the tree and noted with a sense of satisfaction that Kamome didn't notice her presence. Pulling a shuriken from its holster she held it carefully between her fingers, waiting for the moment when she could strike with perfect accuracy. Her opening was being elusive, the jonin not letting his guard down even when it appeared that he hadn't detected her. Tired of waiting she threw the shuriken with as much force as she could muster, even though it was likely to serve only to give away her position despite the genjutsu. To her utter shock Kamome whipped his hand up and caught it with apparent ease.  
"I know you're there Akaru, so you can drop your genjutsu."  
Berating herself for not thinking of the possibility that he already knew about the genjutsu she let the illusion fade. Catching her vision she saw Hisui circling around behind Kamome. She was going for a surprise attack while he was distracted by her teammates. Despite her forgetfulness she did have a sense of strategy. Mentally congratulating her all thoughts of how good she might be were banished from her mind as Hisui lunged forward with all the grace and silence of an out of control wagon crashing into a pile of explosives. With a kunai in hand she jumped Kamome, swiping the blade back and forth furiously. With a slight sigh he grabbed hold of Hisui's wrist and pulled her into a position where she could struggle all she liked but she couldn't get out of his grasp. Akaru knew it was pointless to continue fighting against Kamome, but she refused to back down. She raised her hands to go through the hand signs when she felt a sudden pressure holding down her fingers. As she struggled to move them Kamome looked up at her with a satisfied smile, her hands caught in a tangle of ninja wire that rendered both ninjutsu and genjutsu utterly useless. Defeated, Akaru sat next to her new companions in the team while Kamome released his grip on them, taking a standing position in front of all three.  
"I'm not going to be like the other jonin senseis that the other teams have," he announced, "I'll train you my way. My way can be the fun way if you let it, but it will be the most difficult thing you'll ever experience. Ever."  
Karasu let out an amused chortle, Akaru and Hisui wouldn't know what hit them. His eyes caught a furious glare from Akaru, her startling purple eyes shining with a deep seething anger at being helpless, even with all of her study.  
"I'll give you all a little something special. Meet me back here tomorrow morning before dawn to find out what it is. In the meantime, you all pass."  
"What do you mean? Didn't we pass when we left the academy?" Hisui asked, a look of confusion on her bespectacled face.  
"I left that bit out. You need to be approved by the jonin first," Kamome said, amusement lacing his words.

…/… …/…

The grey half-light that signified the imminent rise of the sun barely illuminated the overgrown courtyard where Kamome had tested the skills of his genin only yesterday. He had spent the night analysing their responses and what they had detailed about their personalities to eventually come to a conclusion about that 'something special'. He allowed himself the luxury of a satisfied smile as he waited in the dense canopy of a tree directly overhanging the mossy grey stones where the genin would gather if they were serious about his training. Naturally Karasu was already there, having little choice in the matter given that his sensei was also his father figure. The albino Uchiha always kept up his coolkid attitude, his emotions buried under layers of training and misinterpreted irony. The sound of approaching footsteps and hushed voices were exactly what Kamome had wanted to hear, the fact that the remainder of his team had actually accepted his terms to arrive to training before dawn was quite the accomplishment, he hadn't even truly expected them to come, it was a bit of a long shot to ask them to come back this early without a solid reason. Dropping off the branch lightly he watched Hisui and Akaru walk into the abandoned courtyard with the balance and posture that only a shinobi could carry.  
"Glad you kids decided to make it," he called, "Otherwise I would've had to skip this part. I've thought about how you all fought yesterday and have come to the conclusion that I'm going to get you all to make your own jutsu."  
He had expected some kind of shouts of joy or moans of protest, but he was shocked when the reaction he received was simple stunned silence. Sure, their expressions varied, but the one thing their reactions all shared was the lack of sound. He wondered if perhaps he had made some kind of huge mistake, committed some kind of act that shattered any kind of trust that they were starting to form. He was about to take his words back and claim that it was a joke when Akaru smiled. It wasn't exactly a warm smile, but more of a victorious grin. "Brilliant," she said, excited anticipation dripping off every word, "But we're only genin fresh from the academy. How are we going to do this?"  
"With my help of course, but I've thought about how you all went at me and from there I've worked out what kind of jutsu you should make. The best part about this is it'll be more difficult to counter than a generic jutsu that everyone knows."  
Even the stoic Karasu seemed to be showing interest, after years of acting as both his father and brutal trainer he had learned to pick up the subtle emotions behind the mask. Judging by their reactions the levels of eagerness varied, but they all seemed more than willing to learn.  
"I'll work with Akaru first. In the meantime, why don't you other two take this opportunity to spar or get to know each other or something."  
With a nod the genin accepted. Perhaps this will turn out fine after all.


End file.
